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Body Image

Dictonary.com defines a female as: “Female [fee-mayl]- (n.): a person bearing two X chromosomes in the cell nuclei and normally having a vagina, a uterus and ovaries, and developing at puberty a relatively rounded body and enlarged breasts and retaining a beardless face; a girl or woman.” Mass media generates the picture perfect image of a woman. The “perfect” woman is a generalized fantasy derived from media and how society shaped the media. But what aspects exactly make a female a woman? The fashion industry might say it the exterior build or the way we look. Feminist might say a woman is shown through the spirit of her interior or her heart. Women should set aside their needs to look beautiful on the outside and look at what’s truly beautiful in the inside. `So many women these days are constantly obsessed about their looks. Women are heavily focused on the way they look due to the endorsements by television ads, billboard ads, magazines, models, or celebrities that look “perfect”. But how did this negative outlook on body image start? It all started with a magazine and its sleek advertisement. They first printed in the 1940s and 1950s. Its roots were derived from magazines like, Vanity Fair and Vogue from the 1920s. These magazines began to publish ads and articles of fashion while portraying women as these high class skinny flawless human beings. It is said that the average woman is 5’4” and 140 lbs. while the average model is 5’11” and 120lbs. Statistics like this stop to make me wonder, how does one female reach being so “perfect” and that skinny? Just twenty years ago models weighed 8% less than the average women, these days models weigh 23% less than the average women. “As the years went by, the woman in the magazine became less realistic and more idealistic.” (Wilson, 2009) The fashion industry perceives skinny as beautiful. Just recently, Vogue promised to not “knowingly” use girls younger than 16 years of age. But they broke their promise when Vogue China used 15 years old, Ondria Hardin for one of their shows. Also breaking that promise again, the 2007 Council of Fashion Designers of America, when designer Marc Jacobs, included 14-year-old, Hardin in his 2012 fall fashion show. The article simply said “The fashion industry simply loves a skinny young girl” (Givhan, 2012).

That statement is almost a fact, models are told either they have to be really skinny or plus size. There is no in between option for being a model. So reasons why average women feel depression when they see a model is because there is no relatable connection being made. A 1995 study found that, three minutes spent looking at models in a fashion magazine caused 70% of women to feel depressed, guilty, and ashamed. False images of how a woman should look are causing women depression anxiety, which leads to these women trying to lose weight. “ The beauty ideal in American culture is: thin.” (Ossola, 2010). Losing weight in the fashion industry is very common among models. Models are usually prone to being diagnosed with an eating disorder. But models are not the only ones being diagnosed with eating disorders; one out of every four college aged women suffer from an eating disorder. Bulimia nervosa and Anorexia nervosa are commonly the two leading eating disorders women are diagnosed with every year. Bulimia is when one would start a cycle of binge eating followed by purging or vomiting. Anorexia is when one would control their body weight by starvation, purging, and binging, excessive exercise or diet pills.

Both these eating disorders are getting so bad, most young girls as young as 8 are being diagnosed with an eating disorder. A majority of young girls are more afraid of getting fat than they are of nuclear war, getting cancer, or losing their parents. 12-year-old girls are going on diets because they believe what your weight determines your worth (Ossola, 2010). The media is aiming their products of endorsement so...

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...Depiction of BodyImage in the Media
Society’s standards for body shape and the importance of beauty is promoted
by various media. The media links beauty to symbols of happiness, love and
success for women. Media depicts these images as achievable and real. Until
women accept their bodyimage, they will continue to measure themselves
against societies “perfect image.” Media representations of bodyimage as well
as parental attitudes contribute to social trends of unhealthy lifestyles.
Female children learn to worry about their appearance from an early age. Huge
quantities of girls between the ages of three and ten have one or more Barbie
dolls. On television children are bombarded with commercials showing tall and
thin women promoting dieting products and leading a “dream” life. Being
exposed to numerous “perfect” female images causes girls trying to conform to
an unrealistic image.
Parental messages about appearance also have large impacts on young girls.
According to the article, “You’re Mirror Image? A daughter often reflects a mother's...

...in society do not realize the negative effects that the media portrays to young women. Young women are more susceptible to these negative side effects resulting in low self-esteem, eating disorders, or depression. Media projects images of women that have been surgically or technologically edited, these projections are causing negative effects. These unrealistic women have a greater effect on young women today, society has enveloped this idea that we have to meet this certain image. We have become so overwhelmed with the stereotypical image causing great disapproval for women who are slightly overweight. Everyone wants to look their best; the question is to what will society to do in order to look their best. Society is becoming more open with the idea that women need to be skinny, sometimes skinnier than what is actually healthy. For example, when comparing one skinny and one curvier woman for an ad about the “ideal bodyimage” individuals would not accept the curvier woman as the “ideal body”. The pictures of skinnier models that are often airbrushed can have a detrimental effect on the psyche of women. This often leads women see changes that need to be made to themselves. Our generation has numerous women so self-conscience of bodyimage it is having negative effect on mental and physical health.
Where Portrayal Starts
In today’s society we often...

...several levels: written words which people think are most important but they really aren't and images which are much more powerful and create an ongoing debate about whether the portrayal f women in advertising is a serious issue. Various studies have been conducted and many opinions are available on this subject.
As an example, Jean Kilbourne, (cited by Robin Gerber) a famous media activist of raising awareness about the exploitation of women in advertising claims that:" the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that the real women's bodies have become invisible in the mass media"(Bordo,2002,pp.379). This statement clearly implies that the constant exposure of images and texts suggesting the idea that the thinner a woman is, the better she is has a strong influence on females in particular, that contributes to eating disorders and low self esteem issues. In my opinion, this assertion is really valuable, and I totally agree with it for many reasons.
I will start by giving an overview of the articles proposed, then examine and analyze some advertisements. This analysis will lead me to present the impact that media images have on the way women perceive themselves; and whether this may be related to the recent increase in the incidence of eating disorders amongst them.
An important article by Robin Gerber, "Beauty and body...

...BodyImage vs. Media
Perfection is the ultimate addiction, in the eyes of the media. Bodyimage is a problem that women and even men have been struggling with for as long as the media has been around. The media constantly puts pressure on young men and women brainwashing them into thinking that the ideal bodyimage for women is small and slim and the ideal image for men is muscular. The media uses interesting standards to define beauty. There are different aspects to beauty that a lot of times, the media does not exhibit. For instance true beauty comes through dignity and character, not necessarily through how a person looks. Nevertheless, there is no denying that ads do affect some of us. Women and young girls all around the world are suffering from eating disorders because they are dying to have the perfect bodies, like supermodels. Flip through a few pages of a magazine and you will surly come across seductive looking models. Turning on your television you can find shows that gladly promote skinny people. Music videos are filled with scandalous women dancing seductively. There is no denying that the media does not promote healthy, realistic physical role models for young men and women.
" Perfection- It's classified in medical journals as the extreme need to be more perfect than is humanly possible. My perfection resulted in a four-decades- long...

...follow and what risks we should take to look our best. More people have access to mass media than ever, people are watching television more and more, reading magazines regularly and using the internet daily, so no matter where you look now, you will be subjected to some kind of advertising. What a lot of these ads have in common are actors and models that have “perfect ideal bodies” that are portraying perfect lives. This bombardment of mixed message has left many young people confused and anxious about how they look and how they feel and in some cases is leading people down a path of unhealthy obsession.
In the media today, brands are using advertising differently for men and women, using models with hard to achieve ideal body standards, when advertising to men, brands will tend to use the model to prop up their product, with no fear of objectifying the person and when advertising to women they tend pray on women’s fears and insecurities (Henderson-King, 1997). When reading a fashion or health magazine men and women will be viewing a large number of pictures containing models with the “perfect” body type. This could to lead to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, eating disorders such as; anorexia, bulimia, over use of stimulants, over exercising and an unhealthy obsession with mirror watching and weight monitoring.
In recent years there has been a huge growth in the health and fitness industry, now with easy access to 24...

...The Fight Against Media’s BodyImage
When most people think of eating disorders they tend to think of young teenage girls with their bones popping out of their body. Most people never think about how those teens get the idea of an eating disorder. It just doesn’t happen overnight with one bad dream, but always being bombarded to look good, to try the newest diet, to look good for a dream man are the causes. It’s from magazines and TV shows that are showing very thin girls getting everything they wanted in life. Most of those magazines photographs are touched up, girls have hours put into their hair and makeup to look that perfect. That is one thing that most young girls know but don’t realize. Show business needs to change their way of thought about beauty and bring in more natural looking girls and use a lot less Photoshop.
Some studies show that boys and girls think closely about the media forcing them into thinking about dieting and this then encourages them to have an eating disorder. According to Z. Lawrie, E. A. Sullivan, P. S. W. Davies and R. J. Hill study called, “Media Influence on the BodyImage of Children and Adolescents” boys are unsure / disagree that the media portrays a message of a slimmer and more muscular body, where the girls agree that the media inspires to have a slimmer body. Now the boys disagree / strongly disagree that the media try’s for...

...BODYIMAGE VS. SELF-ESTEEM
According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, diet is food and drink regularly provided or consumed. It is also defined as the regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight. The latter definition will be the one used for this research paper. Currently, up to fifty percent of women have tried dieting at some point in their lives and at least 90 percent of teenagers diet regularly. Due to this, the “diet fad” is worth billions with its government, pharmaceutical, and weight loss agencies funding it. Americans alone spend more money on weight loss programs and products than any other nation.
People go on diets for a number of reasons. One reason is their concern for their health. Many people who live a healthier life are geared towards a restricted diet and lifestyle due to medical reasons. Second reason and probably the most common is to achieve a better bodyimage. BodyImage is how people perceive their physical appearance due to self-observation and the reaction of peers. It is how people see themselves and how comfortable they feel about their physical appearances. Even though it is more of a personal evaluation there are several factors that can influence how we perceive our bodies.
One factor that can shape one’s bodyimage is culture. Different cultures have different definitions of what...

...billions of dollars for its creator. Her perfect body is what girls all around the world talk about. She has the fashion, the looks, and the pizazz that anybody would want. As you might have guessed in the first sentence, it’s none other than Barbie. Her slender, gorgeous body, beautiful legs, and luxurious, thick hair would be an honor to have. But, is it really a dream come true, or a terrifying nightmare? Is Barbie a good role model for a young girl to follow, or is Barbie a threat to your children? In response to this question, many parents overlook the facts and say, “A little doll isn’t going to hurt my child. It’s ok.” But, is the happy-go-lucky, fun, careless lifestyle of Barbie just “ok”? Face it, parents, Barbie is not a good role model for your little girl to be looking up to. Barbie gives off a unrealistic and unhealthy vision of what beauty is. She contributes to low self-esteem, negative bodyimage and eating disorders in young girls. She also shows them an unrealistic “perfect” lifestyle.
Barbie is sending the wrong message for girls around the world. Barbie’s appearance is sending the message that girls need to be perfect and that if you don’t look like a barbie you are not “Beautiful”. To solve this problem, I think Mattel should create more diverse and healthy Barbie’s. If they make these new Barbie dolls, girls will feel more confident about themselves. If the dolls were a healthier size, had...